Best Caesar Salad

This has been a Caesar salad kind of year.

It’s been a year of business (busy-ness) and business. Of days that fly by, fly-by-nights, late nights, leftovers, stopovers, quick dinners. And of all the quick dinners, this is one of the best.

Caesar salad seems to be everyone’s favourite around here and this dressing recipe is the best we’ve come across. My little kids and my parents gobble it down. We fight over who gets to eat the leftovers for lunch. Hell, we sometimes use the dressing as a dip. It’s my favourite kind of recipe, too: good enough to serve for friends and simple enough to whip up at 7.30pm on a Tuesday and with ingredients I probably already have.

As for the salad itself, you can go classic with romaine, croutons, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and some anchovies for show. You can make it a proper meal by pan-frying some chicken breasts (with the lid on for extra juiciness) and serving them, sliced, on top. You can make your own croutons by cubing up some bread, and frying it in a pan with olive oil, salt and herbs. In the end, though, it doesn’t matter how you serve it. With this salad, the dressing isn’t an afterthought - it’s the main event.

SALAD

Romaine lettuce, chopped

Parmigiano-Reggiano, thinly sliced

Croutons (store-bought or homemade)

Dressing

DRESSING

Adapted liberally from a recipe found on Once Upon a Chef. Makes enough for 1 very large salad. Any extra can be stored, covered, in the fridge for at least a week.

4 cloves of garlic

6 anchovies

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

pinch of salt, lots of freshly ground pepper

HOW TO:

Make the dressing by mixing everything up in a little food processor or chopping everything finely and whisking to blend. Any extra dressing can be stored in the fridge.

To make the salad, toss everything in a bowl, adding dressing to taste. Enjoy!